Peter Merriman, a founder of the Hawai'i Regional Cuisine movement and pioneer in forging strong food producer-chef relationships in the Islands, is opening a second Merriman's fine-dining restaurant, this one on Kaua'i, in 2009. Though he has been involved in a number of ventures since opening Merriman's in Waimea on the Big Island 19 years ago (Hula Grill, in partnership with TS Restaurants; and Merriman's Market Cafe on the Big Island), this will be the first to resemble the flagship.

Asked why Kaua'i, Merriman cited the island's wide appeal.

"I like Kaua'i — and who doesn't?" said Merriman, 51. With its farming and fishing ventures and creative and entrepeneureal alternative lifestylers, Kaua'i also offers a venue for Merriman's signature approach of building a predominantly home-grown menu and keeping it honest and simple.

The concept, which sounded a little daft when Merriman left his position as a hotel chef to risk opening his own restaurant in 1988, was to buy local; this at a time when the only local thing on most high-end restaurant menus was the Solo papaya at breakfast and the orchid garnish.

As a handful of others were beginning to do, Merriman sought out food producers, talking about what he'd like to see on his menu or what they'd like to produce, tacitly agreeing to share their financial risk by promising to buy what they raised or caught, and to spread the word about their products among his chef friends.

"We've been doing locally grown, sustainably raised, organic when possible all along, and now the country's excited about it," he said. "If we're ever going to expand, now's the time." Merriman's buys 90 percent of its food from Big Island producers.

Merriman said the big difference in the past 20 years is customer perception and understanding. "When we started, all we were doing was selling better-quality food. Nobody cared about organic or sustainable or the 'carbon footprint.' ... The idea of the close connection with farmers, some of our customers didn't understand that. We were out chasing flavor and we knew that flavor came better locally," he said.

Today, more customers want to know where the food came from, how it was grown, what it contains, whether it was raised with a wholistic sensibility — all questions Merriman's staff has long been able to answer.

The 120-seat, 4,000-square-foot Merriman's Kaua'i and a more casual, restaurant, The Cafe (similar to Merriman's Market Cafe at Waikoloa on the Big Island and featuring a Mediterranean menu), is sited at Kukui'ula Village in Koloa, near Po'ipu. The 91,600-square-foot Kukui'ula Village is part of a luxury residential and recreational community.

The restaurant's designer is Camille Hendrickson of O'ahu, best known for her work in designing movie sets, Merriman said. The second-floor restaurant will, like the flagship, feature artwork that celebrates suppliers and food producers. Both will give a nod to Koloa's plantation past by creating the feel of 1930s-era stately homes.

Merriman will be traveling to Kaua'i to begin establishing producer relationships. He's already busy sourcing Kaua'i-raised chickens and is looking forward to finding a steady source of taro.

And what about a 20th-anniversary event for the original Merriman's? There will be a celebration, he promised, but he's just not sure yet what form it will take.

Reach Wanda A. Adams at wadams@honoluluadvertiser.com.